Ever since the dawn of MTV and Friday Night Videos, the music video has significantly impacted musical tastes and pop culture. It might not be as extreme as when the Buggles declared that "Video Killed the Radio Star", but there is no arguing that the music video certainly could make or break a song's popularity. So this regular Flashback Video feature will serve to remember some of the music videos from the great '80s decade that made an impact on me in one way or another.
This issue we will cover "You Better Run" by Pat Benatar. On August 1, 1981 a new cable television channel went on the air called Music Television or MTV for short. The world would never be the same. Many people know that the first video to air at 12:01 on that historical day was the prophetic “Video Killed the Radio Star” by The Buggles. A piece of trivia known by far fewer people is the video that was played second on MTV that morning. The answer is “You Better Run” by Pat Benatar. Another piece of trivia about this song is that it is actually a cover of a 1966 hit by The Young Rascals. It was not particularly a major hit song for Benatar only peaking at #42 on the Billboard Hot 100, but it was the first single off of her 1980 album Crimes of Passion which also included the song “Hit Me With Your Best Shot.” The album went 5x Platinum and is her best selling album to date though she would have much more successful singles later on with “Love Is a Battlefield” in 1983 and “We Belong” in 1984.
The music video for "You Better Run" was directed by Nick Saxton who had previously done Michael Jackson's 1979 video for "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough". Saxton later directed the video in 1982 for the Rick James smash hit "Super Freak". There is not a whole lot to the video other than Benatar wearing a black and white striped shirt performing with her band in a warehouse setting featuring lots of close-ups on Benatar as she's singing. Here is the music video for "You Better Run" by Pat Benatar...
There you go, the second video ever played on MTV. As a bonus, here are the entire first two hours that MTV broadcasted that morning the channel launched (including that iconic opening, the Buggles, the "You Better Run" video and so much more)...
Hope you enjoyed another trip back to the '80s thanks to Flashback Video!